Welcome to the weekend.  Of course, you must get through today, but Friday’s are part of the weekend in my mind and it’s time to think about unwinding after a long week.   It’s hard to imagine in two weeks it will be "black Friday" and many of you will be having Turkey sandwiches for lunch.   

This time of year the focus of the weather forecast changes.  In the summer I feel like everyone wants to know the weather for outdoor activities such as going to the beach, golf, or baseball.  This time of the year the focus shifts to can you rake the leaves in dry weather, when will the mountains get some snow, are the lakes frozen enough for ice fishing or will the roads be horrible because you might have travel plans. 

Most, if not all of us have started using supplemental heat to stay warm and the cold can also impact our wallets.   I have a friend in the oil transportation business, he loves cold weather.  In my world, the warmer the weather stays in late fall and early winter, the less money I am spending on heat.

Keeping this in mind, let’s get to the weekend forecast.  You already noticed how much milder it was Thursday from the day before and today will better those readings by a degree or two.   I expect the Jetport to reach 52F this afternoon under sunny skies.

If you are headed out this evening it won’t be very cold.  Around 8PM temperatures will have fallen into the lower and middle 40s, headed down to the lower 30s by Saturday morning.

Both Saturday and Sunday will be mild with highs in the lower 50s.  Sunshine is most prevalent on Saturday with a noticeable increase in clouds during Sunday.   The clouds represent an upcoming change back to colder weather for next week.

This map shows highs for Saturday across much of the east.

Sunday night through Monday night a couple of cold fronts will approach and cross the area.  The air ahead of these fronts will become increasingly moist and showers will break out.  The best chance for showers is Monday, but I am not expecting a lot of rain.

The map below shows how much rain is forecast to fall through Monday.  Coastal Maine doesn’t receive more than half or three quarters of an inch from the upcoming rain.  It’s been a very dry period since October and there are no signs of any major amounts of precipitation of rain or snow ahead after the showers late this weekend and early next week.

On Tuesday, as the colder air works into the area temperatures will struggle to reach the lower 40s.  Even colder air arrives for midweek with next Wednesday looking very similar to the one we just finished.  Highs on the 20th will not get out of the 30s across much of New England. 
The map below shows one models (the GFS) predicted temperatures for that day. Notice how the cold air is settled into the mid-Atlantic region.

Long Range

 

Beyond mid-week temperatures will recover for next weekend before falling again for Thanksgiving.  Since the holiday is still about two weeks off a lot can change.  I’ll start giving the forecast for Thanksgiving week early next week in a general format of warm or cold, dry or wet.  As we get closer I can refine the details more.

Gardening this week

 This week my video is on raised beds and how they can help extend the season.  I show you several ways you can use raised bed or cold frames to allow your gardening to start earlier and end later each year.

I’ll be updating the forecast for the week on Twitter at @growingwisdom Please follow me there. Feel free to comment or ask questions too.

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